Seated Buddha (530)

Seated in full lotus position on a stepped platform/throne, supported by two small monster headed men, the Buddha has his hands in the Abhaya mudra (gesture of fearlessness, have no fear), and Varada mudra (gift giving gesture of compassion), and wears a long robe that leaves his top foot exposed on his lap, but falls down over the throne in a series of cascading scalloped hems. His head, backed by a lotus blossom halo, is slightly inclined down, as if looking down at the supplicant, he has the slight smile and half closed eyes of samadhi, an inward state of bliss coming from enlightenment.

The stylized treatment of the drapery, proportions of the face and treatment of the hair in whirls, all date the piece to later part of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 A.D.), from the period sometimes call the Six Dynasties, when China was split into different kingdoms following the fall of the Han Empire. The Northern Wei were foreigners, and open to foreign ideas, and it was under them that Buddhism became established. This small sculpture was created for private devotional use, and is a superb example of its type and style.